


The Best

by frasierverse (orphan_account)



Category: Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Cartoon 2018)
Genre: Adoptive Sister April O'Neil, Fluff without Plot, Gen, Platonic Female/Male Relationships, this is 100 percent platonic don't be weird
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-24
Updated: 2020-07-24
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:40:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 540
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25494016
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/frasierverse
Summary: inspired by some amazing gift art from my friend lele!!! (@lelesberw on twitter and instagram)
Relationships: Donatello & April O'Neil (TMNT)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 54





	The Best

**Author's Note:**

> inspired by some amazing gift art from my friend lele!!! (@lelesberw on twitter and instagram)

April glared at the sticky note on the wall. _Study sesh w/ Donnie—7PM._ She didn’t feel like studying, much less making a whole _sesh_ out of it. Judging by the way Donnie was lying across her bed on his belly, staring at his phone, he wasn’t too interested in studying either. April sat up on the edge of her bed and sighed.

Donnie didn’t look up, but he tore one hand away from his phone, extending his third digit. Reflexively, April hooked her index finger around it in a gesture resembling a pinky swear. They did this a lot: when they would take turns reading to one another, when they were dozing off after a stressful day, when they were watching a movie together and an arm around the shoulder would be too much. Neither was sure which friend came up with this tiny secret handshake or when. Maybe it just sort of happened on its own, driven by some kind of familial instinct. Whatever it was, it felt nice. It felt safe.

April took a deep breath and tried to relax her shoulders. She looked down at Donnie, whose cheek was now pressed up against the bedspread. He looked up at her with wide yellow eyes, smiled a little, then turned his attention back to his phone, one hand still interlaced with April’s.

They stayed like that for a while, silently scrolling through their phones, April making Donnie look at the occasional meme or cute animal video to try and get a chuckle out of him; Donnie, showing April weird trivia or Hubble telescope photos to get a fascinated “hmm” out of her. He eventually let go of her hand to press the release button on his battle shell, yawning to disguise its hiss. A cloud of pizza-and-sewage-flavored B.O. escaped as the shell was loosened.

“Donnie, gross,” said April, using her biology textbook to fan the smell away. Yeah, it was sweet that Donnie felt secure enough around April to take off his protective shell, but the thing had been marinating in back sweat for at least twelve hours.

“I’m sorry, does my natural aroma _offend_ you?” said Donnie, feigning indignation.

“Only every day of my life,” April replied sarcastically. She looked down at the textbook in her hands and realized she was supposed to be studying right now. With a dramatic sigh, she opened the book, only for Mayhem to come and lie down on it. He gazed up at his owner, chirping expectantly. April relented and scratched Mayhem behind the ears until he curled into a contented, purring ball of fluff.

“Oh, man, how is it 8:43 already?…” Donnie said. “I should probably end the tutoring session here.”

“Yeah, we’ve been working our butts off,” April smirked as she stroked Mayhem’s back. “My mom said you can sleep over, by the way. Since it’s not a school night.”

“Well, then!” said Donnie. “Allow me to take off my proverbial mortarboard and put on my proverbial party hat, 'cause it’s time to cut _loose!”_

“Shell yeah!” said April. “Better text Raph and let him know where you’re gonna be.”

“Right, right. Thanks for reminding me,” Donnie said. “You’re the best, April.”

April grinned. “I know.”


End file.
